BY: Dr. Hana Saada
Nabil Benabdallah denounces deteriorating governance, rising youth alienation, and economic mismanagement, warning of a democratic backslide ahead of 2026 elections.
Algiers, Algeria | April 12th, 2025 — In a scathing critique of Morocco’s current political trajectory, Nabil Benabdallah, Secretary-General of the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS), declared that the country is experiencing a serious political dysfunction, exacerbated by the tenure of Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch and his ruling coalition.
Speaking at a symposium organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (HEM) in Casablanca on Tuesday, Benabdallah warned of a dangerous disconnect between Morocco’s political institutions and its youth, whom he described as increasingly disillusioned and excluded from meaningful civic engagement.
“The country is suffering from a deep political malfunction, especially in the way it communicates with its younger generation. This rupture is growing,” Benabdallah said. “And the situation has only worsened with the arrival of the Akhannouch government.”
The PPS leader was uncompromising in his condemnation of the current administration, which he accused of failing across multiple fronts—democratic, political, and economic. He noted that his party chose to enter opposition immediately following the 2021 legislative elections, precisely because it rejected the direction the country was heading under the current leadership.
Benabdallah warned that unless systemic changes are implemented, the flawed and opaque experience of the 2021 elections risks repeating itself in an even more egregious form in 2026. He called the government’s record “an unmitigated failure”, citing its inability not only to deliver tangible results, but also to maintain a consistent and credible political presence.
“This government has utterly failed to manage the key democratic and political files, and it has equally failed in what it promised the Moroccan people it could do best—economic governance. Unemployment has soared to alarming levels. That alone speaks volumes,” he stressed.
He also took aim at the government’s attempt to market the notion of a “social state,” calling it nothing more than a slogan devoid of substance. “In reality, there is a wide gulf between this rhetorical construct and the lived realities of Moroccans,” he stated. “This trajectory must be reversed before 2026.”
Benabdallah also emphasized the duty of the opposition to hold the government accountable, highlighting the legitimacy of submitting motions of censure and launching parliamentary inquiries into issues of public concern. He pointed to recent fractures within the governing coalition itself, citing political statements from parties calling for the elimination of import duties on red meat, and others questioning the transparency of public subsidy allocations.
Most notably, he accused the Akhannouch administration of blatant conflicts of interest. “It is unprecedented in Morocco’s political history that a government greenlights a major public tender—such as the desalination plant project in Casablanca—and that the winning contract goes to a company owned by the Head of Government himself,” Benabdallah declared.
In a chilling warning for Morocco’s democratic prospects, he further alleged that the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the party led by Akhannouch, is mobilizing massive financial and logistical resources in anticipation of the 2026 elections. Such preparations, he warned, risk further entrenching public cynicism, widening the chasm between citizens and the political process, and exacerbating voter apathy.
“This is no longer a question of political rivalry,” Benabdallah concluded. “It is a matter of safeguarding what remains of our democratic integrity. We cannot allow public trust to be hijacked by unchecked power, opaque interests, and a façade of progress.”
